Start your year-end clearance campaigns by mid-August, not October. The 2027 models begin arriving on carriers in late summer, and the dealers who move 2026 inventory at the best margins are the ones already in market before the first new truck shows up. Waiting until the lot is full forces discounts that marketing was supposed to prevent.
That is the short version. The rest of this playbook covers the timing, the channel mix, and the budget math, week by week.
Why does model year-end clearance start in August?
Because your inventory problem starts in August. Factories ship 2027 models from late summer through fall, and every 2026 unit still on the lot when they arrive costs you floor plan interest and lot space. Shoppers also know the calendar. Search interest for “year end car deals” builds through September and October as buyers wait for the discount they assume is coming.
The dealers who win this window treat clearance as a 10-to-12-week campaign with phases, not a banner that goes up when the GM gets nervous. Early weeks build the audience. Middle weeks convert the in-market shoppers. Final weeks apply urgency to the fence-sitters you have been tracking since August.
One more reason to start early: ad inventory gets expensive later. This year the squeeze is worse than usual, because the November 3 midterms will eat local TV, radio, and streaming inventory through October. If your clearance plan depends on broadcast in late October 2026, you will pay political-season rates for it. Book early or shift the money.
When should dealerships launch each phase of the clearance campaign?
Launch in three phases: audience building in August, conversion in September, urgency in October. Here is the week-by-week version we run for dealership clients.
| Weeks | Phase | What runs | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10–30 | Build | CTV/OTT brand spots, dynamic inventory ads, conquest geofencing around competing lots | Get 2026 clearance messaging in front of every in-market shopper in your radius |
| Aug 31–Sep 20 | Convert | Paid search on model + deal terms, VIN-level dynamic ads, retargeting site visitors | Turn research traffic into appointments and quote requests |
| Sep 21–Oct 11 | Push | Payment-focused offers, service-drive and owner-list campaigns, social proof creative | Move the aged units; upgrade current owners into remaining stock |
| Oct 12–31 | Close | Countdown creative, “final units” messaging by VIN, tightened radius, higher frequency | Clear what is left before 2027 inventory dominates the lot |
Two notes on the table. First, the phases overlap on purpose. You never stop search or retargeting; you change what the ads say. Second, the dates assume normal delivery schedules. If your allocation of 2027s lands early, slide everything forward. The calendar serves the inventory, not the other way around.
Which channels move clearance inventory fastest?
Paid search and dynamic inventory ads close the deals, but they work better when CTV and geofencing have warmed the audience first. Clearance shoppers almost never convert on the first touch. They see a spot during a game, search the model two days later, and click the ad that shows the actual VIN with the actual price.
Dynamic inventory campaigns matter most during clearance because the story changes daily. An ad promoting a trim level you sold out of last Tuesday wastes money and burns trust. Feed-based ads that pull from your live inventory fix that without anyone touching the campaign.
Conquest geofencing earns its budget in this window too. A shopper standing on a competitor’s lot in September is as close to a sale as a shopper gets. Serving them your clearance offer that evening is the cheapest conquest play in automotive. TV still has a role for dealers with the budget, and we have covered whether a business should consider TV advertising in a separate post, but this fall the political crunch makes streaming the smarter buy in most Florida markets.
The full channel mix is a media buying question, and it depends on your market, your inventory age, and what your co-op will reimburse. That last part deserves its own section.
How should dealerships use co-op dollars during clearance season?
Spend co-op first, spend it early, and get every claim pre-approved before the campaign runs. Manufacturer co-op funds are use-it-or-lose-it in most programs, and Q4 is when unspent balances quietly expire. We see dealers leave real money on the table every year because nobody matched the clearance campaign to the co-op rules in August.
The practical steps:
- Pull your current co-op balance and the program’s year-end claim deadline this week.
- Check which channels qualify. Most programs now cover digital, CTV, and search, but creative usually needs brand compliance review.
- Submit clearance creative for pre-approval before Labor Day so nothing stalls in review during the campaign.
- Run co-op-eligible campaigns at full reimbursement rates first, then layer dealer-funded conquest and geofencing on top, since those rarely qualify.
- File claims monthly instead of waiting for year-end, when co-op processing departments get slammed.
A dealer with $40,000 in expiring co-op effectively runs this season at a discount competitors without a plan are not getting. That difference shows up directly in cost per sale.
What does this look like for a Central Florida dealership?
Orlando area dealers face a specific version of this season: heavy competition on every corridor, I-4 commuters who shop three stores in an afternoon, and a fall ad market that gets crowded with political money in a state with a governor’s race and a Senate seat on the 2026 ballot.
What we have seen work here is narrow geography and heavier frequency. A store on Colonial Drive does not need impressions in Ocala. Tight radius targeting around your PMA, conquest fences on the competing franchises within it, and streaming buys aimed at Orlando-market households let a mid-size dealer stay loud enough to matter without paying for waste. Upwynn runs these campaigns from Orlando using 90+ data sources for targeting, which is what lets the budget stay concentrated on actual in-market shoppers instead of everyone within 30 miles.
What mistakes waste the most clearance budget?
Starting late is the biggest one, and it compounds every other mistake. After that, the pattern is familiar: generic “year-end savings” creative with no models or payments in it, ads pointing at the homepage instead of the clearance inventory page, no tracking split between calls and forms, and pausing campaigns the week of a holiday exactly when shoppers have time to visit. None of these require more money to fix. They require attention in August instead of panic in October.
If you want a second set of eyes on the plan, our team builds dealership marketing programs around live inventory and month-to-month terms, with no long-term contracts. Before you sign with anyone, ours included, it is worth reading how to choose a Google Ads partner so you know what questions to ask. And if the budget itself is the open question, our guide to small business marketing budget percentage gives you a starting number to work from.
FAQ
When should a dealership start advertising year-end clearance?
By mid-August. New model year inventory starts arriving in late summer, and shoppers begin searching for year-end deals in September. Starting in October means paying more to reach people your competitors reached weeks earlier.
How much should a dealer budget for the clearance season?
Most stores concentrate 30 to 40 percent of their second-half ad budget in the August-to-October window. The right number depends on inventory age and co-op availability, which is why the budget should be set per store, not from a rule of thumb.
Do year-end clearance ads work for used inventory too?
Yes, with different framing. Used units do not have a model-year deadline, but clearance season traffic lifts the whole lot. Dynamic ads that pair a new-unit offer with comparable used stock capture buyers the new-car payment prices out.
Should clearance campaigns run on TV this fall?
Carefully. The November 2026 midterms will inflate broadcast rates and shrink inventory through October, especially in Florida. Streaming and CTV deliver the same audiences with more control over spend this cycle.
What is conquest geofencing and does it work during clearance?
It targets shoppers whose phones were physically on competitor lots, then serves them your ads afterward. During clearance it is one of the most efficient plays available because those shoppers are verified in-market and cross-shopping anyway.
How do co-op funds fit into clearance marketing?
Co-op should fund the compliant core of the campaign: search, CTV, and dynamic inventory ads. Get creative pre-approved early, file claims monthly, and spend expiring balances before layering dealer cash on conquest tactics co-op will not cover.
Written by Liz Mbwambo, Founder + CEO of Upwynn Marketing, an Orlando data-driven agency. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
